Description
A story of staggering scope and drama, Revolusi is the masterful and definitive account of the epic revolution that sparked the decolonisation of the modern world.
‘Astounding . . . history at its best’ Yuval Harari
‘Utterly compelling’ Financial Times
‘Superb’ Guardian
On a sunny Friday morning in August 1945, a handful of tired people raised a homemade cotton flag and on behalf of 68 million compatriots announced the birth of a new nation: Indonesia.
Four million civilians had died during the Japanese wartime occupation that ousted its Dutch colonial regime. Another 200,000 people would lose their lives in the astonishingly brutal conflict that ensued – as the Dutch used savage violence to reassert their control, and as Britain and America became embroiled in pacifying Indonesia’s guerrilla war of resistance: the ‘Revolusi’. It was not until December 1949 that the newly created United Nations finally brought the conflict an end – and with it, 350 years of colonial rule – setting a precedent that would reshape the world.
Drawing on hundreds of interviews and eye-witness testimonies, David Van Reybrouck turns this vast and complex story into an utterly gripping narrative that is alive with human detail at every turn. A landmark publication, Revolusi shows Indonesia’s struggle for independence to be one of the defining dramas of the twentieth century.
